Siamese Fighters

[Ruby Slippers]

I Bought a Dark blue female and a blue male when I 1st started introducing fish to my tank. Recently I found the male dead in my tank after all his fins had been "chewed" off I bought a new fighter a light blue one and added to my tank. Literally moments after I introduced him into tank the female had started to pull his fins off and eat them. he has been alive for a week now I have put him in a breeding unit to help him recuperate I am just worried what to do when he recovers or if he will ? Is this normal for fighters to do this ???

 

[Scarab]

I don't know how big your tank is...but just for future reference. Never put a male and female betta splenden together in the same tank (unless you want to breed them ...and then you separate them immediately after they've copulated), they will attack each other. Although it's usually the male attacking the female.

Also, as I'm sure you know...never put males together in the same tank...for the same reason.

 

[Ruby Slippers]

Oooops didnt notice the reply bit there sorry ) posted a report instead. I have a 100 gallon tank I did want to breed the fighters. So far I have;

Male & Female Dwarf Gourami
2 Common Leopard Pleccos
5 silvertip neons
1 female siamese fighter
& a very poorly one !

So little fish in a big tank, I have cycled it and its full of good healthy plants and I have sand instead of gravel which my pleccos seem to like ! I am just more concerned with my female siamese fighter being so agressive and territorial that she will kill any fish I introduce. My male is in a breeding unit to recuperate, I know I cant keep him there forever. I just dont want to put him back in the tank for the female to do it again. My mum has a smaller tank (60 gallons) with the following in;

2 lace Gouramis
Male & Female Dwarf Gourami (which are building nests )
1 small plecco
2 mollies
5 black neons
2 chiclids (not sure which kind sorry)

I was wonderring if my male fighter would be better off in her tank, its well established and all the fish are very docile together. She has been keeping this tank for 11 months now and all the fish are fairly small. The male fighter would be about the same size as her mollies which are fine and get on well with the other fish. I just dont know what to do

 

[Ruby Slippers]

I mean Litres not gallons !!! that would be a huge tank ?
I know that my mums chiclids arent kribensis if that helps.

 

[tribalsilver_shark]

Temperament: Generally peaceful. DO NOT keep more than one male fighter in the same tank as they will spread their fins, flare their gills and kill each other. DO NOT keep male fighters with female fighters unless breeding is intended as the male will kill the female. Several females can be kept together. Male Fighters should not be kept with species that have large fins such as the Angelfish

you shouldnt keep 2 in the same tank really only introduce a female to breed then remove it as the male will kill it instantly

 

[gadazobe]

If you want to breed them then the best thing to do is keep them both in a seperate tank with a divider between them. The male will flirt and show of to the female and build a bubble nest and if she shows interest, then put them together and once they have spawned and the eggs are in the nest, seperate them and leave the male with the eggs - he's the baby sitter. The male will go for the female in the belief that she wants to eat the eggs, and being the good father that he is, he won't allow that. You can't keep them together in a community tank or any other tank coz they will fight to the death - you can only keep them together for spawning.

 

[BettaBoyz]

there are some people who keep a trio of grrl-Bettas with a single Betta-boy, but they know what they're going. i learned the hard way when my girl Virginia was torn up by my boy Donny, who is oh-so docile and didn't even attack the invading Mackenzie when he leapt his breeder-trap wall.

watch the grrl-Betta, if she's being aggressive to everyone in the tank perhaps you could consider moving her into her own tank until she calms down, then be very careful and introduce a cleaner-fish and see if that works. otherwise you might want to invest in a nice small tank for the Betta-boy, as i've heard Bettas and Gouramis don't always agree with each other and you could end up with a chewed-up Betta and a chewed-up Gourami. either way, it's a good excuse to get another tank

and, since you're interested in breeding Bettas here's a teeny bit of info i've gathered from about ten zillion forums, books and sites. let the male build a biiiig bubble nest, and keep a seperate tank with 1-3+ females. pick out the female you want to breed him too and condition her OR condition all the females and pick out the fattest girl. introduce her with a covered breeder trap and wait a few hours, then let her into the tank. make sure there's hidey holes! the male and female will be nervous, but let them dodge around and nibble a bit, but not enough to damage the other. keep them there for 24 hours, if they haven't bred remove the female for a few days and try again later, if they do spawn remove the female and put her in a hospital tank to recover, and let the male raise his eggs, unless he starts snacking on them of course

i think that's accurate enough... please inform me if i've made a stupid xX